Fade to Black
by W0uld-YouKindly
Summary: After an operation gave me new powers, a young girl decides this is the opportunity for her to finally live her life. Taking a new name, she sets out to impress the League in hopes to work alongside them. NightwingxOC
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone! This is my first Young Justice fanfic, and apart from the show, I don't know much else about DC lore, so please bear with me! Constructive reviews are greatly appreciated. Enjoy the prelude to the story!_

* * *

Holding onto her young girl's hand, the woman sitting at the edge of the hospital bed silently cried. It tore her apart, looking at the frail teenager who has lived her whole life in a hospital. She was weak, thin, and pale; darkened circles under her eyes made her look more like a ghost than a girl. Regardless, the broken girl would look up and continue to smile weakly at her mother in an attempt to comfort her.

"Oh, Melaine…," the older woman trembled as her husband placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked sadly between his grief stricken wife and his sickly daughter, face sullen.

"Ma, Pa; don't worry," Melanie spoke softly, struggling to speak. Despite her struggle, she tried to sound cheerful for her mother's sake. "I'll be fine."

When she was a toddler, Melanie's parents had learned of the rare disease in her blood. Not much was known about this illness; it was energy draining, and Melanie rarely had the strength to mover her limbs, lift her head, even speak at times.

"Mister and Misses Fitzroy," the doctor stated as he entered the private hospital room. "Have you come to a decision yet?"

"Don't rush us, Doctor," Mr. Fitzroy growled. "This is our daughter's life we're risking."

"May I remind you, Mr. Fitzroy, that due to your daughter's condition, there isn't much choice in what course of action we can take," he replied calmly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Although the operation may result in death, it's the only treatment we have at our disposal. This is one of the rarest illnesses mankind has encountered. There haven't been any successful treatments thus far."

"So we basically send our daughter out to the slaughter?" Mrs. Fitzroy quaked once more as she held her daughter's hand tighter.

"Your indecisiveness has already cost your daughter her childhood and young adolescence," the doctor responded. He had a stern tone in his voice. "How much more of her life will she waste rotting away in a hospital bed before you make the decision?"

Melanie's parents exchanged looks of worry before looking back down at their daughter.

"I told you," Melanie spoke again, this time trying to sound more confident. "I'll be fine. I'm tired of living like this. I'm willing to try anything."

Mrs. Fitzroy held Melanie tightly in her arms as she cried. Placing a gentle kiss on her cheek, Melanie attempted to push her mother away gently. "Ma, seriously, it's okay," she smiled. "No matter what happens, I'll be fine. I swear to you."

Reluctantly, Mrs. Fitzroy pulled away. Gathering some strength, Melanie raised her arm to pat her mother's swollen belly. "Make sure Robert knows how brave his big sister was."

Mr. Fitzroy sullenly looked down at his only daughter. Despite knowing he has a son on the way, Melanie was his first born, and she was his little girl. Blinking back tears, he too took her in an embrace. "I love you, princess," he said softly, trying to mask his sadness.

"I love you too, Pa," she replied, straining herself to hug him back.

After their good byes, the Fitzroy's left the hospital room. After ensuring they were gone, Melanie craned her head to look at Doctor Reid. "Well it took them long enough."

Doctor Reid smiled at the young woman, helping her out of her hospital bed and into a wheelchair. "You really are a brave girl, Melanie."

"No," she replied grimly. "That's not what I am."

* * *

**Melanie's Perspective**

* * *

My name is Melanie Fitzroy, age 17. I'm one of the few in history to suffer a rare blood syndrome that, according to Doctor Reid, burns energy at an alarming rate and therefore prevents me from basically living. But strangely, it's given me strange restorative powers; something I had discovered when I took to self-harming in an attempts to put myself out of my misery. Therefore, for my whole life, I've lived in this hospital being used as a living test subject – no matter how many times they would cut me open or take blood or tissue, it would restore itself. It's not exactly the best life, but I'm one of the only hopes to make advances in health for this illness.

But in Doctor Reid's studies, he didn't necessarily find a cure. He found more questions.

Much of my blood cells are alien; something he found quite alarming when testing my blood. And the way it fights with my human cells is what causes my energy drainage. At first, Doctor Reid thought the answer would be simple: remove the alien blood and replace it with human blood.

Let's just say in testing, that turned out to be…destructive.

So the only other option was to make the alien blood sole inhabitant of my body. With the absence of human blood, the alien blood will duplicate until all of the human cells are replaced. The side-effects, though positive, will render me inhuman. I'll turn into what my blood is. And what that is we don't necessarily know. But at this point, I'm willing to do anything to get out of these same four, pale walls. I'm tired of living with IV tubes and oxygen masks to help me survive. I'm ready to live. Even if there are consequences, I'm not giving up on this.

"You may not think it brave, but it is, Melanie," Doctor Reid spoke again, pushing my wheelchair to the elevator, placing in his security card to access the secret testing chamber in the basement of the hospital.

"It's selfish," I sighed in response. "But you swear to keep your end of the bargain?"

"Of course. No matter the outcome, I will announce you dead," he nodded as the numbers lowered as we passed floors. "We have a fake body prepared to be your corpse."

I nodded. "Whatever I become…my parents may as well wish I were dead. I don't want them knowing."

The doors to the elevator opened, revealing the familiar room where I've been experimented on my whole life. Nurse Karen smiled at me as Doctor Reid wheeled me in. She was like a second mother to me; she taught me everything I knew and was always by my side.

"Hello, Melanie," she said cheerfully. "Today's the day."


	2. Chapter 2

Melanie's Perspective

* * *

Nurse Karen smiled at me as she helped me out of my wheelchair and lifted me up onto the surgery table. Laying me down, she checked all my vitals to make sure I was in good shape for the operation. I felt a small pinch as she gave me my anesthetic. After some encouraging words from Karen, Doctor Reid approached the table, all dressed up in his surgery gear. I suddenly felt the anesthetic do its work.

I could see the light fade from my eyes and the last thing I remembered was Reid say "Let's begin the operation. Good luck, Melanie."

* * *

Everything was dark. The room looked identical to the surgery room, but…black. Suddenly, in a burst of what looked like dark geometric shapes, I was teleported to an unknown area.

I was surrounded by humanoid creatures that seemed to lack features; they wore white masks that resembled human faces, although their eyes were a hollow black and they lacked emotion.

"At last, you have returned to us Shadera." I could not tell who spoke as their lips didn't move. The sound almost echoed through my head, eerily. As if I could physically _feel_ their speech.

"Huh?" I mumbled, looking around in confusion. "My name isn't… I'm Melanie."

Another figure pushed through the crowd. The way it limped forward using what looked like a staff for balance made it seem as though it were an elder. Its mask was different – a glowing blue outline of a crescent moon on its forehead.

"Lady Shadera," it addressed me, the same voice that spoke before. "The gods have brought us good fortune today. We feared you would never return home." Its voice sounded feminine – perhaps I should address it as a "she".

"But I'm not-"

"Of course you would not know of your heritage," another voice – masculine – spoke out. Another figure approached, a shadowy outline of a sword hoisted at its waist, the mark on its mask a diamond. "You were taken to the other realm young."

"What are you talking about?" I snapped. "Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?"

* * *

What a weird dream…

The first thing to come back to me was my hearing. "She's back," Doctor Reid stated with a tone I could interpret strangely as shock, most likely to Nurse Karen who helped him with the operation.

I could finally feel the strength of the lights and squeezed my eyes shut at the surprise. As I slowly opened my eyes to bright lights and blurred figures, the first thing that I noticed was the throbbing in my head. I lifted my arm and cradled my throbbing head with my hand as I groaned in pain.

Wait…

"I can move my arm!" I exclaimed in excitement. Swinging my feet off the hospital bed, I dangled my legs of the edge and kicked them back and forth. "And my legs!"

I turned to look at the two people who made this possible, but when my eyes met theirs, I could see the fear in them. They were looking at me in shock. And I'm guessing it's not from my movement.

"What…what's wrong…?" I stuttered, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"After the operation…when we removed the blood and your vitals returned to normal…," Reid spoke slowly, pushing his glasses up. "You vanished. Disappeared without a trace."

"What?"

Was it… not a dream?

* * *

I was escorted by the elder and swordsman towards what looked like a palace. They spoke to me as we walked the streets towards it. The sky was dark, but the sun shined light blue, illuminating the dark architecture subtlety.

"You were stolen from us by a traitor," the female spoke. "You were daughter of a master sage; their only offspring. You were to be trained to fight alongside other sages for the royal family."

"But that traitor, Xertix," the male hissed. I could feel his anger pursing through my head, almost a burning sensation as I 'felt' his 'speech'. "Stole you from your crib and brought you to the Realm of Light. Attempted to strip you of your powers by turning you into one of them." It seemed as though his hand was clenching around his sword. "Fool!"

"Keriah," she said gently. "Please, calm yourself."

"My apologies, Lady Pria…" he responded softly, and bowed apologetically.

"Shadera," Pria addressed me without turning to face me. "I don't know how you managed to undo Xertix's endeavours, but I am not one to question good fortune. Your timing is beneficial to both of our worlds. The Realm of Light and Twilight will both be in need of your powers."

"Light? Twilight? Powers?" I repeated in confusion. "You guys talk an awful lot, but don't answer _any_ of my questions."

Pria turned her head to face me; her mask slowly changed its expression from straight-faced to a faint smile. "Patience was never your mother's greatest virtue. All in good time, my lady. Your questions will be answered once we enter the palace." She gestured to the structure we've been approaching.

* * *

"And now you've returned," Doctor Reid began, inspecting my body. "With strange markings all over you…"

I looked down at myself to see my arms and legs covered in strange, glowing blue lines. With each breathe I took the light faded and lit itself again, pulsing with my life energy. The lines were very straight and geometric, turning in sharp ninety degree angles. They somehow reminded me of veins.

Examining my arm, my eyes followed the lines up towards my hand, where they met at a circle on both my palm and the back of my hand. A thicker circle, broken with dashes rather than complete, was in the center.

Inspecting my face in a mirror, I could see a single cluster of the thin lines that started from my forehead and came down under my left eye and stopped just above my jawline. My eyes, once a hazel, were now the same glowing colour of my marks.

I shook my head and sighed. I guess it wasn't a dream.

* * *

Pria and Keriah finally led me into the palace. There was a figure seated at the throne; a dark crown atop their head, and it appeared to be wearing a gown. On its forehead was a sun. They both bowed to it, so in respect, I followed their lead.

"Queen Leti," Keriah addressed her without raising his head. "Lady Shadera has returned to us today."

The queen's mask had twisted its emotion into one of joy; a large smile now on the mask. She rose from the throne and came to me, putting her arms on my shoulders. "Your mother had lost all hope. I am glad she will be able to see her daughter again. I will send for her at once." Her voice felt different; it was soft and gentle – almost healing-like. It refreshed my sore head.

"Um, Your Majesty?" I began unconfidently. "With all due respect… Where am I? Who are you all? And why are you calling me Shadera?"

The queen's mask faded from a smile to a serious expression, the lips on the mask slightly turned downward, brows gently furrowed. "It is such a shame you were taken from us without knowing your potential. I am just pleased that you have been able to take your old shape and come back."

Old shape…?

I looked down at myself and noticed that I too was a dark shadow.

"What?" I gasped in shock, examining my arms. "I'm-"

"You're a Twili, Shadera," Queen Leti said, taking my hand in hers. "We are the race of the Twilight Realm. Our world is opposite to the Realm of Light, but nonetheless we are linked. One strong enough can walk between the barrier of the two realms, like Xertix. And that is how you were taken from your crib as an infant and found your way into the Realm of Light. Xertix assumed you would die, but once you changed your shape, he knew you would be able to cross the barrier again, so in an attempt to forever keep you from returning, he tried to turn you into a creature of light. Your Twili blood tried its best to fight the human blood, but it rendered you weak."

"Has this happened before?" I asked. "Because there have been few others in my world that had similar problems that I did."

Sullenly, the Queen nodded. "Unfortunately, it was once our greatest form of banishment. Those who have committed high crimes are taken to the Realm of Light by a powerful sage, turned human, and have all memories of the Twilight Realm erased from their minds." She sighed. "I always thought it a disgusting tradition, so I have ensured that during my reign, I would never resort to that."

"Queen Leti," I felt another female voice in my head, and turned to see another Twili enter. She, like Pria, has a crescent moon on the forehead of her mask and held a staff. "I came as soon as I received your message. How may I assist you?"

The queen smiled and turned to the Twili that just came in and gestured to me. "Sage Alia," she began softly. Her voice felt soft and warm in my head, like a fluffy blanket just taken out of the dryer. It seemed to convey a tone of happiness. "By some miraculous turn of events, your daughter – Shadera – has found her way back to the Twilight Realm."

The dark sockets on Alia's mask widened in shock and I heard the _clang_ of her shadow staff falling to the ground. "My…" Suddenly her mask changed to a wide smile, and Alia rushed towards me and pulled me into a hug. "My daughter…" She rocked me back and forth in her arms, her grip tightening. I could tell she never wanted to let me go. "Shadera, my beautiful baby girl…"

_Beautiful?_ I thought to myself in confusion. _We all look the same…_

"I have so much to teach you!" she told me gleefully. "I must prepare you for the fight ahead!"

* * *

I rubbed the marks on my arm softly and looked up at Doctor Reid. "How long was I gone for?"

"It's been well over a week," he answered. "Where did you go, Melanie?"

"My name isn't Melanie," I told him softly. "It's Shadera."

I tried to focus on what I remembered from my dream. Or rather, journey. I concentrated on my energy, and my body became a shadowy outline of what it once was. Nurse Karen gasped at my transformation; I clung my two dimensional shape to the wall and was able to dart around the hospital room as if I myself were a shadow. Testing to see if my assumptions were correct, I approached an actual shadow of a vase with flowers in it. Reaching into the shadow, I pulled out one of the flowers by its shadow, and the real flower reacted by hovering in the air.

"Fascinating…," Doctor Reid muttered to himself as I stepped out of the wall and retook my human shape. But I wasn't done just yet. Mother mentioned spell casting.

I looked at my hands where my markings were. I tried to focus on an element I wanted to use – fire. My markings slowly turned red. When I felt charged, I snapped my fingers and a flame emitted from my fingertip.

I smiled to myself. Maybe it was time for me to do something with this new life I was given. I craned my head to look at the TV where a broadcast was showing two former sidekicks – Rocket and Zatanna – being inducted into the Justice League. I looked at the long line of super heroes that stood in front of the Hall of Justice, welcoming the two new heroes into their inner circle of righteousness. Batman, Wonderwoman, Superman, Flash… All the heroes I watched from my hospital bed for years all standing together, welcoming the two young women. That's when I decided I will be the next one they will induct.

* * *

**I should point out that I was inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess in regards to the Twilight Realm. I'm not completely basing it off the game, obviously. Just taking some inspiration.**

**Thanks for reading! This is just the introduction to how Melanie had gotten her powers.**

**Constructive reviews are greatly appreciated :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Melanie's Perspective**

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Melanie dear?" Nurse Karen asked me as she leaned in the doorway to the guestroom of her home. It's been about a week since I've returned from my first trip from the Twilight Realm, and I've been staying with her until I was able to figure out a plan to join the Justice League. It was very kind of her to take me in, and I'm very appreciative for her help.

I've been doing very basic training: running on her treadmill, a bit of weight training, and other muscle building exercises. I was lucky that my newly revived Twili body was strong and my visit to the Twilight Realm helped my transition into being able to move. Living my whole life with that "illness", I had worried that even if the operation was a success, my inexperience with simple actions like walking, or lifting my arm to eat or grab things would inhibit me from living. My Twili blood gave me strength and made movement intuitive despite that. It was a great relief.

"You know I am, Karen," I told her as I tied my shoes. I was dressed in black yoga pants and a tight black tank top and all black runners. I didn't really have the resources for fancy super hero garbs, so this will have to do.

"But the streets of Gotham are dangerous at night," she said softly, worry clear from her tone.

"That's the _point_, Karen," I replied with a smile. I lifted the masquerade mask I bought at a store and spray painted black to my face, and secured it to my head with the attached elastic band. It was a mask of some sort of bird, a beak stretching out past my nose. It reminded me a lot of the masks worn by plague doctors in Europe during the Black Death.

_Hmm_, I thought to myself. _Black Death… Nah, too… Extreme._ I needed a superhero name, didn't I?

I didn't even see myself as wearing this mask as a permanent hero uniform. I just needed something until I was able to get the attention of the League. I bet they'll help me out with a costume and a persona after.

"If a bunch of baddies come out at night," I began, turning my head to her. "That means Batman will be out trying to catch them. If I can catch them before Batman does, it'll prove how good of a hero I'd be and, bada bing bada boom, you're looking at the next member of the Justice League." She laughed at my use of phrase that was popularized by the classic mobster television series, The Altos. One thing I did a lot in the hospital was watch TV and play video games.

"I applaud your vigour, Melanie dear," she smiled at me. "But I don't think it'll be that easy."

"It'll be fine, Karen," I replied with a smile before turning into a shadow. "See you later." I slipped through the window and glided down the side of the house and made my way through the streets of Gotham. I looked up to see the Bat Symbol flicker on and shine brightly against the night sky. Alright, so there's some action tonight. The only thing now is to get there.

* * *

I smirked to myself as I heard Gotham City Police car sirens from behind me. As they zipped past, I clung onto the vehicle's shadow so it would bring me straight to the scene of the crime. In a manner of minutes, I arrived in front Gotham's largest bank. Police officers were stationed all around, but they were not at the ready. Their expressions were full of defeat. I disconnected myself from the police car and walked around in shadow form.

There was a moustached man wearing glasses that I recognized as Commissioner Gordon. I approached him and hid in his shadow, waiting to hear any information he would be discussing with the other officers. Instead of an officer, however, Batman appeared.

"What's the situation, Gordon," he asked in his gruff voice.

Gordon sighed. "It seems as though even with the Joker locked away, his goonies are still causing havoc," he explained. "After they broke into the bank, they managed to avoid our officers with smoke bombs. We have no idea which direction they went."

"Don't worry, Gordon," Batman reassured. "I'll find them."

_Not if I can help it_, I thought, snaking my way up the walls of the bank to get a better view. They couldn't have gotten too far.

Sure enough, darting through alleyways not too far from the crime scene, there was some suspicious characters holding large sacks, with what I assumed to be full of money.

_As I said, bada bing bada boom._

It only took a few minutes to catch up with them. Once I had them in my sights, I turned back to my solid form.

"Hey!" I called out to them. "Where do you guys thing you're going with all that stolen money?" My methods of intimidation definitely need to be worked on. So that's outfit, name, and speech… I really hope the League has classes or something.

The men looked at each other and laughed.

"Alright little girl," one of them chuckled as he approached me. He tossed his bag of money to one of his pals and pulled out a gun. "If you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and walk away. I don't wanna hurt you."

I scoffed at the man. "If you think I'm going to be scared by your little gun and threats, think again, buddy."

The man glared. "Arrogant little…" He pulled the trigger, but as it zoomed by, I turned into a shadow and it zoomed past through my shadow arm. I flinched from the pain, but it hurt a lot less than it would of have I were in my solid form. Regardless, I laughed at him. "Wow, great aim, dude."

The men's eyes grew wide as I reappeared, and they turned and tried to run. "Let's get out of here!" the _leader_ shouted.

I shook my head and sighed as my markings turned a deep blue. Water shot out of the circles in my palms; it surrounded the men individually and dragged them back to me. "Were it so easy." I told them with a smile. The water currents pulled the sacks of money out and let them fall to the ground.

The markings of my arms slowly turned from the deep blue to white, and the water that emitted from my hands began to freeze and froze the criminals in place. As they began to squirm in the ice and shout at me to let them go, I collapsed and sat on the ground in front of them. I guess using that magic is a lot more tiring than I thought it would be. I just need to muster enough power to get Batman's attention.

After my arms turned red, I snapped my fingers and let a small burst of flames explode in the sky above the alleyway. I sat back and waited for Batman to arrive. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open. Going shadow never caused this much stress on my body. I'll have to ask mom about this fatigue my next trip to the Twilight Realm.

* * *

Even though I wasn't feeling much better, sitting down helped even out my breathing again. Once I saw Batman approach and I sprung up with a smile.

"I caught the bad guys for you!" I exclaimed excitedly.

The Batman looked between me and the criminals for a moment before he gestured for the Gotham City Police Officers to detain them.

"They're stuck in rock-solid ice, Batman," Commissioner Gordon pointed out as he walked into the alleyway. "We'll need to grab some chisels or something."

"If you're ready to grab them, I can release them from the ice," I told him with a smile.

Gordan looked at me skeptically. "Were you the one who caught them?"

"Yup, that's me," I grinned and laced my fingers together behind my back, swinging back on my heels.

Gordan shook his head. "Well, thank you. Men are you ready?" They all hollered back in response. "Okay, release them."

"Yessir!" I replied. My markings turned deep blue, turning the ice back into water, and then the water disappeared.

"We'll take it from here, Batman," Gordan told him as he led the men to the containment vehicle.

"Goodbye, Commissioner Gordan," I waved. "It was lovely meeting you."

I saw him smile faintly before stepping into the vehicle. I watched it drive away and disappear into the distance.

"Who are you?" the gruff voice of Batman grabbed my attention. I looked to him to see him looking down at me, lips thinned and slightly curved into a frown.

"Well, I haven't really come up with a name yet, but I'm a new hero!" I responded cheerfully. "And I really want to join the Justice League, which is why I set out tonight to show you how qualified I am."

Batman remained silent before he sighed. "Vigilante justice isn't the way to go about it."

Staring blankly at the masked man before me, I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "With all due respect, Mr. Batman, sir, didn't _all_ superheroes – including you – start by bringing about vigilante justice?"

He seemed to glare at me through his mask, making me shrink back in fear. He was more intimidating in person…

"Follow me," he said gruffly, gesturing to the exit of the alleyway. Without saying anything, I quietly followed behind him to the street where a black vehicle waited for us. "Get it," he again instructed as one of the doors on the passenger side opened. Again, I followed his command in silence.

After entering the Batmobile himself, Batman began to drive. "I will admit, Miss, your powers do seem to be powerful, and I'd rather you be an ally than an enemy."

I smiled in response to what I interpreted as a compliment.

"Regardless, you're much too young and inexperienced to join the Justice League," he continued. "But, if you're that keen on being a hero, I might have a place for you with our covert operations team. Not only with you go on missions, but you will also be trained by League member Black Canary. Once you've honed your skills and matured with age, you may find a spot among us in the League."

"You mean like Rocket and Zatanna?" I asked.

Batman merely nodded in response.

"Well, I suppose that would be a great place to start," I smiled back at him. "Sign me up!"

* * *

**This chapter was kinda poo. Needed to get her into Young Justice and I was just like *fart sounds* here ya go.**


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